Strategies for building a thriving FB group with Dr. Sharon McLaughlin

If your business isn't working the way you expected, it's not because you're bad at business. It's because no one ever taught you.

How it actually works.

We were trained to master algorithms in medicine, but when it comes to revenue teams and growth, we were never taught anything. We weren't even told to figure it out. We just assumed somehow we'd know. Like it would magically make sense. But it doesn't. The era of the seven Figure Physician CEO is here. And it's not about working harder. It's about learning entrepreneurship as a system. The same way you mastered ACLs and pals, you can master the algorithm of building a profitable scalable business. That's why I recorded the seven Figure Physician CEO audiobook. Whether you're building a medical or non medical business, and whether your goal is your first million, first 2 million, first 5 million, first 10 million, this is where the journey starts. There is no Calvary coming to save us. We are the Calvary.

So.

So go get your audiobook now. Www.entremd.com 7Figurebook. And let's rewrite the narrative for physicians starting today. Hi, docs. Welcome to the Entre MD Podcast where it's all about helping amazing physicians just like you. Embrace entrepreneurship so you can have the freedom to live life and practice medicine on your terms.

I'm your host, Dr. Unna. Well, hello everybody, and welcome to another episode of the Entre MD podcast. As you always know, always excited to be in your ear. I'm talking all things business of medicine and today I have a very special guest. I have Dr. Sharon McLaughlin and she is the founder of Female Physicians Entrepreneurs. And she has a huge Facebook group. And a lot of times I get questions about how do I run a Facebook group, how do I keep people engaged, how do I get people in the group and all of that. And we are going to talk all things Facebook today. So this is going to be super exciting. Hope you're ready. So welcome to the show, Dr. Sharon. I'm so excited you're here.

That's Una. I appreciate you having me here. I'm thrilled to be here, actually. And I've watched you grow and do all the magnificent things you're doing for other people. You're a wonderful business coach. I've spoken to you. You've helped me run the group before. So thank you for all that you've done.

Oh, thank you. See, you're trying to make me cry. That's not the game. This is so good. And you guys are going to see what you just saw is part of what makes her so amazing because she's really good at pulling people in, pulling the best out of people, networking the whole nine yard. So this is going to be great. So, Dr. Sharon, can you take a moment and introduce yourself to the listeners?

Sure. I am boarded in plastic surgery. I ended up burnt out, a bad marriage. Not sure what I wanted to do. Just wanted to walk away from it all at one point. And slowly but surely, maybe day after day, I just started taking care of myself and said to myself, what is it that's really important to me? It's my life to live. When I ended up burnt out, people didn't understand why I wanted to walk away from clinical medicine. And. And at the time, I didn't want to explain to anybody. So to this day, this is. I always go back. That was a really rough time in my life, you know, speaking to other people. I'm a cancer survivor. And honestly, being burnt out from medicine and walking away from it all and then having people who I, my husband, my sisters, my family question why I was doing was the worst time or very dark time in my life. So I always go back to that and whatever I can help other people do. This is hence why I started the group. One of the reasons that I started the group, that's pretty much me in a nutshell. I love to help other people. It's why I went into medicine. It's just different now. It looks different to me now when someone says, how do you help other people? The group is one way different areas of my life. I have a side business that I help other people, but it's a lot of people at one time. It's not just this one on one with the doctor patient relationship anymore.

Now you said one of the reasons is because you wanted to help people. Let's lean into that a little bit. You're the founder of this group, Female physician Entrepreneurs. And if you're female and you're a physician, look for it on Facebook and join the group. Okay, now talk about why you started it in the first place.

So I have always been interested in entrepreneurship. Not during medical school. I was very focused on completing medicine. I don't consider myself a really great student. I struggle. I have dyslexia. I really had to give everything that I possibly could to medical school. But when I got into residency, I started noticing that some of the doctors were doing different things and I was always interested in that. Let's talk about this during the case. When you're operating, you talk, you Know, like, you see this on TV shows or whatever, but physicians actually talk, or doctors, surgeons talk during the case. And yes, we could be leaning over somebody doing a case, but we talk, we do small talk. We. So I found a lot about investing and there were interests in entrepreneurship, and those were the docs that I really appreciated working with the most because, yes, it was medicine, we were doing medicine, but we're talking about outside of medicine. So I think from a long time ago, I wanted to do. Step out of the box and do different things and not just be. Not just have that doctor patient relationship. There's so many different things we could do. And life is short. As I mentioned, I'm a cancer survivor. So in my own life, my husband is very. He's a straight hour, I call him. He's a great guy. He has no interest in entrepreneurship. He likes his job, comes home, doesn't deal with his job at all. That's the type of shift work that he has. My very close friends were not interested in entrepreneurship. I love them. They're in medicine. There's no interest. And so I found myself very alone and I felt like an oddball. And yet I knew people were out there interested in entrepreneurship. And the other thing, as I mentioned, I ended up burnt out. And my feeling at the time was if you had something outside of medicine that perhaps you can make extra money with, you wouldn't be tied down, right? Because so many of us, we have debt and then we're used to that higher. Like most of us have a decent income compared to other jobs. Not everyone, I'm not saying that, but most. Some of us do. And so we get used. We get accustomed to that lifestyle and then. So what do you do on the side that can replace, like you kind of feel. I think people feel stuck. Like, I've trained all this time, I'm now in a corner. I'm not exactly happy I'm being pushed into this corner by administration or by lower insurance fees, whatever it is. And what do I do? There's nothing I can do to get out of this. And this is where you come in with all of your work. Dr. Una. So this is why I started the group. I was like, if I'm interested in this, I did it for myself. Like you could say selfish reasons. I wanted to know. I wanted to be around other docs that were doing similar things. And I knew that they were out there. It was just a matter of getting them together. At the time, I just, I didn't know about physician side gigs. Nisha Mita had started this group. I wasn't even aware of it. I was on Facebook. I was in a large physician's group, but I wasn't aware of Nisha's group. So this is why I started it, and I'm happy that I did. In retrospect, there's been some ups and downs. I'm not going to lie to you. Anything with business or as far as the group goes, it's more or less a hobby for me. There's always ups and downs. But if it means a lot to you, you're going to be persistent and you're going to stick with it. So this is why I started it in a nutshell, to get people together, to network, to support each other. And for my own selfish reasons, I wanted to feel like I was in an oddball. I wanted to. I thought as a group, if we can share experiences, you know, maybe you know a little about this, I know a little about this, we could all grow together to reach our endpoint faster.

Love it, love it, love it. So that was a problem you noticed that you had, and you're like, and I'm sure other people have this problem. So we're going to get all of them together and we're going to figure this out. And that is, you know, and that's the true spirit of what's going on in group, too. So that's really nice to hear the whole origin story, because I didn't know all of that. So now with your group, you know, you have over 6,000 doctors in the group, and there are lots of people who have groups that are much smaller. I have a group that's much smaller. So what would you say to the person who's started out or has a smaller group and they want to grow their group? What are the maybe top three things that have helped you that you can attribute the growth of your group to?

Definitely persistence. I know it's common sense, but it's persistence. If you don't show up, nothing's going to happen. And honestly, I think personally, it was easy to start Facebook groups three years ago. Work on March, I guess will be four years when I started this group. I think it was easier back then. But even that, back then, remember I told you there really weren't a lot of groups as far as entrepreneurship, Physicians with entrepreneurship. It was crickets for months. And I'm talking months, I questioned whether I was like, I saw the numbers going up, but I'm like, is there anybody even? Nobody was engaging. No joke. Like, they really were not engaging. And I just kept on going at it. I tried different things. At the time, we weren't doing panels. It was really all things that I came across in entrepreneurship books that I was reading, whatever it is. And this was kind of like all three at one time. Perhaps you have to make the group about them. And Dr. Un, I've heard you say this plenty of times. What is in it for me? We are a society that there's so much information all over the place. So you have to stand out, you have to be unique, you have to niche it down, you have to offer really good value and just keep on doing it. And they will come. And you ask, you actually have a call to action. You don't have to say, I need people to join the group. But if you're happy, if you think that this is providing value, then ask your friends to join because how else does that's the best way you can try to do some paid traffic. I think I tried that for less than a week. Honestly, it was expensive and I just didn't feel like it was getting me anywhere. So I gave up on that. It's really primarily been all organic. And now recently what I've been doing is I have something coming up in the group that I haven't really mentioned to many people before, but I want to do some fundraising with a foundation and I want that group to. I want FPD to be bigger. So, yeah, thank you. But now I'm actually messaging people, which is another thing. You could message people and you could ask them to join. And that started about a month ago. Honestly, I haven't been consistent with that. I think about them. I know we're getting off topic here, but multi level marketers, like, they message people and you really have to be consistent. And I've heard this over and over again. I'll do it like once a week. And I'm like, I haven't done this. And I don't see the group. Like, I will watch the numbers. I'm in the group a lot. I watch those numbers and if I feel like we're stalling, I'm like, okay, got to get this going again. Keep going. And the way that Facebook is, is unless your group is engaging, unless it's growing, it's probably not going to show your group to other people. You know what I mean? When you're going down the Facebook, the feed, and on that right hand side, it'll be suggested. So you want to be in one of the suggested groups and just keep on doing that. You know, whatever it is, ask people, call to action. Whether you message people. Who cares? It's if you feel like you're really providing value, which honestly, you need to feel that way, otherwise don't bother doing it. But if you know and you can stand behind your product or 100%, keep on doing it because you have a message and you need to share that with other people and you're going to help other people.

I love it. That's a lot of good stuff. Yeah, that's really good, you know, because now you're so. What you're saying, which I hope everybody got it, is, you know, I started it. And for months and months and months, it was crickets. And that is usually where most people will quit. And then. So there will never be their own version of FPE because they didn't go through the months of crickets to get to the month where there were 6,000. Right. So even when they're crickets, you can look for how to make it better, but not necessarily quit. And then the thing you talk about niching down and being aware of what your people need. Everybody's tuned into that channel. What's in it for me? And then give them what they need, you know, so that is. That is so good. And, you know, all the other different things you talked about, I love it.

Yeah, no, it's important. And it depends. Like, I started this for fun, more or less. Like, this is right. I don't do business coaching. I started this for fun. But if this was your business, then whatever you're adding in the group could be used as content elsewhere. Instagram, LinkedIn or however you want to do it. Do a TikTok little video on what you've just said, you know, sum it up. But always, it always has to do with content, you know, and this happens over and over again. Where do I get content from? I don't know. Find it. And if you're working with people like your target market, it's going to come. Doctor, I've heard you say this before. You know, listen to what people are saying. Listen. What are they asking? Make that a form of content. Address the Q and A's. People love that. And always make it about them, get them engaged. That's really the key answer here is because you don't want to just. That's like what a Facebook business page is. Information, information, information. A group is engagement and it's different and you need to get them involved.

Oh, I love that. Okay, so the Facebook page is information. The Facebook group is all about engagement and you need to get them engaged and involved. I love it. That is a quotable quote right there. A rewind moment. Okay, Love it. Now the other question is, you know, you mentioned the book is going on almost four years at this point and I'm sure there are so many opportunities to quit. There are many groups that have been around for a year or two and they're done. What has kept you going for almost four years?

I know myself those messages every once in a while, they definitely keep me going. They don't happen all the time, but you know, a lot of times their messages help me, help me, help me. And I'm like, oh my goodness, I already have a full time job. I'm doing lots of different things. I can't help you anymore than, you know, sorry, but it's you girls, ladies, but the nice ones, like, you've helped me so much. I've watched you and honestly, some of these people, I don't even see them post. I'm like, who are you? But they come out and they write to me and I'm like, that's so nice. Really? That really helps. It's that gratitude. It makes you feel. It's nice.

Oh my goodness. Can I interrupt you for a second please? Because this is too good. Okay, now what you said is so profound because you're talking about people private messaging you and you're like, wait a minute, this person has never respond or engaged in the group. And that goes to say that our impact is always so much bigger than we realize because there are people who are not going to comment on your post no matter what you do. But it doesn't mean you're not helping them. So in those moments where they're crickets and you feel like nobody's paying attention and this is useless, remember that sometime in the future somebody's going to slide in your DM and say thank you. You know, this changed my life. Even though you've never heard from them before, that is powerful. And then the second thing is the gratitude piece and I'm going to invite everybody here to pay it forward. So you have been impacted by somebody else's comments, somebody else's content, and I want to challenge you today to be that person who would encourage them to keep going by going to tell them what you're doing has made a difference. So maybe you're already in the FP Facebook group and you have never said this group has been so beneficial to me. I've gotten this connection. I got this piece of information, this panel Was huge. Maybe you're listening to this podcast and you've never written a review and stuff like that. Who knows? Maybe four years from now, I'll be podcasting because of you.

Right?

So pay forward and let somebody know how their content is helping you. That was just so good. Okay, I'm done. You can go on.

No, there's so many things. Collaboration and network. For me, the collaboration is huge in the group because I see great things come of it, and that makes me so happy. I love to see some people. Let's think positive. I love to see people succeed. I truly do. I want us to all succeed as a group. I really do. This is why I started the group. I thought we could all succeed together. Some people, they see other people doing well and they get a little jealous. I don't know. It's. I don't know what to say about that. Look at them as a model. If they're doing it, you can do it. All right. So always look at that. But the collaboration and networking is huge. That's another thing that it really just makes me so happy to see and that people are successful. And, you know, I started the group and people were just at the beginning stages a few years back, and now they're making. Some of them are making millions, and it's really nice to see. So that's why I kept going. I felt in my heart that this was important. I felt like people could use this. And I'm not happy with the way medicine is right now. I'm just not. So what can I do to offer it? I think of another doctor who says, you could take your practice and build with it, like with ancillary services and whatnot. You could do that. At the time, I didn't even think that it was a done deal for me. I know that the door was closing behind me. I wanted that door to close behind me. But maybe you're in that gray area. So keep your options open and keep looking, but collaborate and network with other people. If you're by yourself, it's going to be so much harder than. I guarantee you, whatever you're going through, other people have gone through as well. So lean on them.

Okay, so now you said the ultimate words that doctors don't like. That's networking and collaboration. We're really good at doing things by ourselves. And for most doctors, I don't think that comes naturally. For me, I know networking is something I had to learn. I had to be deliberate, like, to do it because it's like, to start with, I'M an introverted introvert. And so that just didn't work. But anyway, talk to us about networking. Like the differences made for you. And then for somebody who's terrified of networking, what would you tell them?

All right. The one that stands out in my mind is I was just doing this group. It was a hobby. And then Julie Silver from the Harvard there's a writing social media course reached out to me and said, oh, I'd like you to be, you know, part of the panel. I was like, what that imposter syndrome? Like, what me? Like, all I'm doing is like, writing about ink articles for. Remember, if you're doing, you know, your group, whatever it is, you have to provide information. So I was going to like a success magazine, incoc, you know, Forbes, ted, and just posting, like taking little quips from them and quotes and posting it and discussing it like, you want me to come to that heart, you know, so that really stuck out. I was like, wow, you really can make very good relationships. And again, people are listening because I don't. Prior to that, I don't remember having the conversation with Julie at all. So you just never know where this is going to go. Networking is important. How do I say this? Just do it. It's act like you're having coffee with a friend. These, you know, you are, for me, with the group, the female physician. We've all been through it, right? We've been through medical school, we've been through residency, and we're here now. That in itself is common ground. You have common ground with everybody on this universe. In this universe. As far as I'm concerned, it's just a matter of finding it. Whether you're a mom comes to mind with the children making small talk. But get into. They can help you, you can help them. And honestly, you go so much further as a group than by yourself. And just keep that in mind. I can't tell you the Harvard one sticks out, but even recently with networking, I mentioned to you the foundation. I have a nephew who has Pearson syndrome and is starting a foundation with him. And if you don't know, it's Dr. And I know that you know what it is, but it's basically a terminal disease right now. I hope that with time that they can do some gene, you know, manipulation and that won't be a terminal disease. And I hope that he gets to live to see this. That's my, my goal here. So I was. Somebody had reached out to me, you know, what do you do with the group? And I want to post this. And I mentioned I'm thinking about doing. There's a foundation, and I'm thinking about making it where we do paid sponsorships. Like, you want it, Just send me, you know, I don't want any money from you. Just show me a receipt that you paid this foundation. And she goes, oh, my goodness. I work at the nih and I can, you know, basically hook you up there. Has he been to the nih? Is he familiar? So there's so many different levels. Like, just keep your mind. I think we're to take this back a step. We are all busy. Sometimes when you get messages, you know, they're like, I want to get involved. I don't want to get involved. Because you have so much on your plate. Just listen. Be open to it. Say yes. You just never know where this is going to go. It may not go anywhere. It may change your life. Wow.

It may not go anywhere, but it may change your life. That is so good. And there's some common ground. We have common ground with everybody in the universe. We just have to find out what it is that is so good. Okay, if you're afraid of networking, you heard it. Just do it. And then, you know, find the common ground. Pretend you're having coffee with a friend and say, yes, be open. That is so good. Okay, now, for someone who's inspired by you, inspired by your story, and they've always wanted to do a Facebook group, and you are proof that this is possible and they can pull it off and they can build a big group, what would you tell them? The person thinking about starting a group.

Doesn'T necessarily have to be on Facebook. You have to find out where your audience is. In all honesty, in the last month or so, people are leaving Facebook. So it may not be Facebook, but I can tell you I'm on WhatsApp. I'm on Telegram. Telegram is a great resource to check out as far as groups, because whenever you publish something, people see what you're publishing and vice versa. But we'll just say, facebook, just find the people. Just start doing it. Be consistent, and just do it. You have to try it. It may not go anywhere, but you have to try it. And again, if you feel like you're giving value to somebody, which you are, this is why you're doing it. And yes, it could be that you want to build your business as well, but you're offering a service. And what better way to connect with your target audience than by having a group? Does that help so good?

That does help a lot it does help a lot. Now, I'm going to give you. Going to let you tell people where to find you, you know, where to find the group. All the information will be in the show notes, but just talk to them where they can find you, where they can connect. And maybe even for someone who's thinking about, you know, being part of what you're going to do with the foundation. But maybe it's a guy, right? I have, you know, I have guys that are listeners and how can they be part of that as well?

My website is Sharon Mac md. So Sharon Mac M A, C, K, M, D. My Last name is McLaughlin, but most people can't say it or spell it, so I've just abbreviated it as Mac. And that works out pretty good. And then from there there's some resources as far as different links off to different websites. I have a few websites, to be honest with you, but that's the one that kind of leads everywhere, which is good.

Awesome. And when you're ready for the foundation and all that, the information will be there. People can find that. They're awesome.

Put it in the group as well. I'll put it on the COVID of the Facebook group. My nephew gave me approval for it, so I wasn't sure how he felt about it, you know, because it's their child. Yeah, but I'm not one to sit back and just wait.

And you definitely aren't. You definitely aren't. Well, that's it, people. All the links are going to be in the show notes. And, you know, if you're a female, that's a really good group to be a part of. I'm a part of that group as well. And Dr. Sharon is someone that is worth following so much to learn from her, and she is a true networker and true collaborator. And I wish you, if you're listening to the podcast, I wish you could see the video, to see the way she lights up when she talks about helping others thrive and networking and opening doors for others is something that she really does do from the depths of her heart. So this has been a really great episode. Thank you so much for coming on and thank you for everything you do and for setting the stage for female physicians to embrace entrepreneurship, creating a space where they can find models and increase their belief in what is possible for them. So thank you for doing that.

Thank you for all the work that you're doing.

Awesome. So there you go, people. So hope you enjoyed this episode. Be sure to pay it forward. That's what we're doing with this episode. So go find her group, join the group, Go on social media post about how this helped you, tag us ontreamd and I'll see you on the very next episode of the ontremd podcast. Hey, if you love listening to the ontremd podcast, I want to invite you.

To join Entre MD On Demand.

It is my signature subscription program that.

Gives you access to a library of.

Business courses designed to help you do.

One thing as a physician entrepreneur and that is to thrive. Just head out to entremd.com entrepreneur demand.

And I love to have you join us.

See you on the inside.